One thing that is for sure is my days are never the same. Everyday is different and plans are often changing to whatever is thrown at me. I thought this would be something fun to do. People always want to know what my days look like so here’s a brief summary of how this week went. Monday-Friday and some Saturdays I do have help feeding the farm and most Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and some Saturdays I have help with cleaning the boarding room and letting dogs out to potty. Then a couple other days depending on availability I have help with other farm chores so that’s why those things aren’t mentioned for those days. Also its very unlikely I will remember every part of my day so there may be things I forget about and obviously I love on all the dogs throughout the day though it probably won’t be on my list they are getting allll the love.
Monday:
- 6:30am Wake up and roll out of bed pop in my headphones and start morning potty breaks for my dogs and the boarding dogs.
- Then it’s breakfast time for the dogs and puppies
- Well that took longer than planned I have 15 mins to get ready for the day and get in my car
- 8am Time for my 6 Month bloodwork at the doctor in Pooler
- Head back home because I have less than an hour to be at my next appointment
- 9am Drop Reba and Sookie off at the groomer in Guyton
- Time for morning errand run. Make stops at the bank and feed store and last but most important grab breakfast for my mom and I at my favorite place Chick-fil-a 🤣
- Stop at my parents house and eat breakfast with my mom
- 10:30ish Now for the main chores for the day to start
- Start with pressure washing potty pans for the puppies
- Mondays I try to do a “reset” day of the puppy room and my personal living space from ceiling to floor moving all furniture and sweeping/mopping, dusting, steam cleaning, and washing windows
- How is it already 1pm 🤯
- Lunch for the mamas and puppies
- Take the dogs out to potty
- Laundry done throughout the day…the laundry is always going around here
- 2pm time to go pick up the dogs from the groomer. So fresh and clean!
- Drop the girls back off at the house and head to the vet to drop off routine fecal samples for Masha, Reba, and Kate’s litters.
- 4ish Back to work on the “reset” and organizing puppy curriculum. Switching out storage bins with curriculum items according to the development of the litters.
- Listen to voicemails and return everyone’s calls
- Realize I never ate lunch…whoops guess I should eat a small snack to hold me over until dinner
- Brushing time for a few of the dogs
- Time to feed the dogs and puppies their dinner
- Sit down and make a list of things I need. Any other pen and paper list people?
- Go ahead and order a couple new Kuranda beds for the boarding dogs
- The best part of the day….puppy curriculum and snuggles with each and every puppy
- Sweep and Mop the isle of the boarding room. Melted snow equals my yard is a mud pit.
- 7pm Dinner time for me
- Time to let all the dogs out again
- Answer all Facebook messages. Emails will have to wait until tomorrow 😅
- Time to do routine deworming for Masha’s puppies and Reba’s puppies.
- Laundry…again
- Record 2 week puppy video for Darby’s litter and deworm them as well.
- Upload video to YouTube playlist
- 10:30ish Write this and try to remember what I did today. haha.
- 11:15pm Let the dogs out once more before bedtime.
- Read my Bible
- Good Night
Tuesday: My pretty much solo day. The only help today is feeding and watering the farm animals.
- 6:45am Wake up and roll out of bed pop in my headphones and start morning potty breaks for my dogs and the boarding dogs. My daily routine
- Breakfast time for the dogs and puppies
- Brush a couple dogs
- Time for my breakfast. A slice of pound cake and coffee is a nutritious breakfast right? 😂
- Get ready for the day
- Wysiwash the outdoor areas of boarding area
- Work on phone calls and responding to morning texts
- Guardian home visit with Daisy
- Boarding drop off for Willow and Macy(two of my regular boarders)
- Start a load of laundry
- Now for cleaning the boarding area. All boarding dogs go outside to potty and play while I sweep and mop the boarding room
- More phone calls
- 11am Appointment to meet a new boarding dog who will be coming bright and early tomorrow
- Time to clean puppy pens! A little later than I normally like to clean them in the mornings but it was a busy morning
- Feed store run will Lally as my sidekick because it seems I can never remember all the things I need on the farm for the week
- Grab lunch on the way home
- Drop Lally off at home and grab Kate and then Preacher from my parents house and head to the groomer
- Potty breaks for everyone
- Take a bale of hay to the llamas and alpacas
- Laundry once again
- Pressure wash potty trays to get them ready for tomorrow
- Clean water bowls and fill with fresh water
- Appointments from 2-4pm
- Work on straightening the things that have accumulated in the addition we are building and work on a layout taping out where things will go for a visual
- 6pm My mom and dad come to see my plan for the addition and give their feedback on what should be worked on next…building projects take forever don’t they 🤪
- Time to pick up Preacher and Kate
- 7pm dinner time. Yummy chicken soup my mom made
- Clean puppy pens again
- Switch the laundry and wash dishes
- Deworming for Masha’s puppies, Reba’s puppies, and Kate’s puppies. This dewormer is done for 3-5 days in a row
- Puppy curriculum 😃
- Now for ear cleaning for a couple dogs. I may not always get everyone brushed or ears cleaned at the same time but a little here and there works
- Potty break for all the dogs
- Laundry….it really is never ending
- 9:45pm Time for some fun by working on yarn spinning and listening to the rest of a 20/20 episode for 30mins while I am surrounded by the adult dogs snoozing all around me
- Writing this thinking I need to keep a note on my phone as I go so it’s not so hard to remember what all I did in a day 🙈
- 11pm Last potty break for the dogs before bed
- Read my bible
- It’s bedtime!
Wednesday: What a busy day😅
- 5:30am wake up call. Roll out of bed pop in my headphones and start morning potty breaks for my dogs and the boarding dogs.
- 6am had a boarding drop off. I don’t usually do drop off this early but made an exception this once.
- 6:30am Crawl back in bed for a nap….anyone else not a morning person but have early mornings frequently
- 8am Breakfast for dogs
- Then time for breakfast for me. Pound cake and coffee once again haha.
- Get ready for the day
- 9am I have to sit down and make a couple calls and get some office work done
- Switch Laundry
- Wash all feed and water bowls and rubber dog toys
- Pressure wash puppy potty trays
- 10:30am Wash and dry a dog for grooming
- Potty break for the dogs
- Sweep and Mop of the boarding room
- Resume working on some office work. Who is ready for the rest of our litters planned for 2025? Well I’m going to need a little more time. 😂
- Switch laundry
- 1pm lunch
- Dog food delivery! Clean feed room and fill up dog food containers in feed room, puppy room, and main living area
- Straighten up my office. Somehow the “office” is more of a catch all and most office work gets done at my table
- Puppy appointment for Elizabeth to meet her new mama
- 4:30pm Time to actually do the haircut on the dog I washed and dried earlier today
- Another potty break for the dogs
- Time for some dinner. Missed Taco Tuesday so it was Taco Wednesday
- Back home and do a night time clean of puppy pens
- Deworming for Masha’s puppies, Reba’s puppies, and Kate’s puppies.
- Trim eyes and bums on Kate and Reba’s puppies
- Dogs out your potty
- Still not done with answering emails so time to do that
- 11pm write this
- Last potty break for the dogs before bed
- Read my bible
- Good night!!
Thursday:
- 7:15am Wake up and dogs out. They actually slept in a little today!
- Breakfast time for the dogs
- Answer some emails and send out some puppy info to families
- Breakfast and coffee for myself
- Get ready for the day
- Print out papers for puppy binders
- Laundry
- Time to clean puppy pens
- Dishes…Do you wash your dog’s bowls frequently? If not you should
- 12:30pm one of my friends stopped by with lunch
- Lunch for puppies and mama dogs
- Switch Laundry
- Dogs out to potty
- Pull out all the puppy bag things to put together later
- Sweep/blow all the leaves from the middle of the barn aisle
- Sweep and clean our dish/laundry room
- Clean doormats
- Clean up old siding from our construction project and take it to the dump trailer
- Switch laundry
- Dinner time for all the dogs
- Time for our busy afternoon
- Trainer arrives for Puppy Prep School go home appointment
- 5:30pm Vet arrives for one of our big farm calls of the year. Horses, cats, and dogs get their updated vaccines.
- Then time for puppy exams and vaccines for Masha’s puppies
- Reba’s puppies next. Vaccines, exams, and microchips for them
- Last is Kate’s puppies. Vaccines, exams, and microchips for them too
- 8ish Dinner time
- Potty break for the dogs
- Puppy bags get packed! Tomorrow and Saturday will be go home for Reba’s puppies
- Deworming for Masha’s puppies, Reba’s puppies, and Kate’s puppies.
- 10:30pm Record final puppy video for Reba’s puppies families
- Upload to YouTube playlist
- 11pm Write this
- Final potty break for the dogs
- Read my bible
- Goodnight! A busy but exciting day tomorrow!
Friday:
- Woah….my dogs slept in until 7:45am. Panic because I needed to be up at 7am. Should have set an alarm. Jump out of bed no headphones today and let all the dogs out to potty
- Breakfast for all the dogs
- Laundry switch
- Wysiwash the boarding area
- Get ready for the day
- Quick breakfast
- Crunch time to get every ready for Meet and Greet and go homes
- Laundry Switch
- Puppy Pens cleaned and whole puppy room mopped and straightened. Friday is my other “reset” day for the Puppy Room
- Work on straightening things in the new construction area
- 10am-12pm Meet and Greet with Kate’s litter
- Get a couple things done in the office
- 1:15pm The first Reba puppy goes home. 🥹
- Lunch
- All dogs out to potty
- 30 min break to sit outside in the wonderful weather and let the big dogs run and play and snuggle
- Laundry switch
- Answer a couple emails
- Go home appointments for Reba’s boys
- My Electrician came to talk about how I wanted things in the new addition
- Boarding dog go home
- 6pm Dinner Time. I’ve been craving a good biscuit from Bojangles
- Dogs out to potty
- 7:30-10:15pm Time for puppy socializing with a friend. Each and every puppy except Darby’s puppies who are too young got snuggles and had a blast playing with someone new and I got some emails answered
- Time to prepare things for tomorrow
- Dogs out to potty once more before bed
- 11pm Write this
- Read my bible
- Goodnight! Another busy day tomorrow!
Saturday:
- 7:45am Another morning of sleeping in a bit! I guess the dogs are as tired as I am. Roll out of bed pop in my headphones and start morning potty breaks for my dogs. No boarding dogs today so that at least saves some time.
- Breakfast for all the dogs
- Answer a couple messages
- Breakfast for me
- Get ready for the day
- So much to get done before 10am. Start with putting on a load of laundry
- Time to clean the puppy pens
- Set up everything for Meet and Greet
- Get everything together for our 2 go homes today
- 10am First family arrives and meet and greet begins
- 12pm ish First puppy of the day goes home
- 1:30pm Meet and Greet ends
- Dogs out to potty and I sit out in the sunshine while they run, play, and take turns sitting in my lap for 30 minutes
- Lunch time for the puppies and mamas
- 2:30pm Lunchtime for me
- Catch up on all notifications from the morning
- 3pm-5pm Work on Litter plans and look for a new male to add to my program.
- 5pm The last Reba puppy go home 🥹
- Feed my dogs dinner
- Potty break for everyone
- Back to working on litter plans until 6:30pm
- Dinner with a friend
- Time to clean my living space after a busy week of puppies and their care
- 10:30 Last potty break before bed
- Write this
- Read my bible
- Good night!!
Sunday:
- 6am Wake up, pop in my headphones and quickly get the dogs turned out to potty. No boarding dogs again this morning.
- Breakfast for the dogs
- Get ready for church
- 7:15am Arrive at church for Praise Team practice
- 8am-12:30ish Church time. We have 3 services now so I sang on the Praise Team all 3 services. My parents ran by and let all my dogs out before they came to church.
- Lunch at my other favorite place Ms. Jean’s. It’s hard to beat their fried chicken and their melt in our mouth biscuits.
- 2:15pm Back home and change clothes quick and then start letting all the dogs out again
- Lunchtime for mamas and puppies
- Get ready for afternoon appointments
- Start feeding and watering all the animals on the farm
- 4pm First appointment to meet a potential Guardian family
- 5pm Second appointment to meet another potential Guardian family
- Finish feeding the farm
- Clean puppy areas
- Dinner for the dogs
- Continue working on litter plans……why is this so hard. Haha. I want my pairings to be as perfect as possible and also planning which litters I may want to keep from
- 7:30pm Dinner Time
- Dogs back out to potty
- Continuing to work on litter plans. I’m excited to get everything somewhat finalized and posted for everyone
- Last potty break before bed
- Write this
- Read my bible
- 10pm I am wiped out after a busy week so an early bedtime.
Hope ya’ll enjoyed this small peak into what my life looks like! This truly is the only career I could imagine for myself. The long days, endless laundry, and every changing schedule is all worth it to be able to raise these amazing dogs and see the way that they change people’s lives.